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Friday, March 21, 2008
Dream Juice
When I was teaching, I tried not to think too hard about how I was making an impact on the students' lives. The pressure would've caved in my already imploding head.

I know there's an influence, because I was for some reason thinking of a situation in which I have always wished I'd had a comeback. You know what I mean - ohh I wish I had said that instead of standing there like a dumbass.

This particular situation happened when I was still waffling between getting a music degree and a graphic design degree. I had written a mediocre song out on staff, and wondered what an "accomplished" music student would do with it. I gave it to one of the grad students that was teaching music at the time. I asked if he had taken a look at it. He had. I asked what he would do with it. He said:
Trash it. Start over. It's crap.
And he walked away.

I wish I had said (and I say to him now): I hope you slip on all that dream juice between your toes, jerk.

I have a certain amount of sympathy for the stresses of being a teacher and a student. I do. But in that situation, in which someone's confidence in their own abilities is on the line (and it was: I left the music program shortly after that), nothing justifies being an asshole about it. In some ways I'm glad I left, though, because the sheer snobbery in the program was palpable.

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posted by Steve @ 2:12 PM   0 comments
Monday, January 16, 2006
A Funny Thing Happened Today no. 7 part 2: Update on 'Mars' Dirt'
So I was trying to go to sleep - wasn't working - and thought about the mental image I had in my head while writing Mars' Dirt: a gritty scene on the sidelines of what could be in Cowboy Bebop's world, in which a man contemplates his own sad state on Mars and considers how valuable Martian soil used to be and how much he could've used that cash when it mattered.

And I came up with this. I'm going to put a noir-style spoken word over the second stretch between the stutter-muting (3:17 - 3:33) and the end (starting roughly at 7:30). It takes about 2 and a half minutes to read it, the way I do it.

"Red dirt. [inhales a cigarette]

As far as the eye or some enhanced binoculars could see. Not that the horizon's real far, here. Used to be I could take some of that dirt back home and sell it for about the same price per kilo as gold, maybe buy Mom something nice. Buy a ticket back, in any case. Mom is at the headrest, now. Barely knows who she is, nevermind who I am. Always used to get upset when I called in the middle of the night but I had a hard time with area codes before, now ... well forget it.

She's lived a long time .. and I love Mom, but ... .... [takes a long drag]

People live a long time, now. but nobody wants to admit the last 30 years are a waste. Half the kids I've met that have great grandparents - great-great grandparents - in the headrest don't even know it... parents don't wanna to show them. Can't blame them, really. I have a good excuse for not visiting but... would I if I could? I got a big heart but it only gets so big when it's always getting crushed. [inhales again]

Some of that red dirt could've bought some care. Now, it's all just dirt again. And she doesn't know who I am anymore. Doctor says she's got 15 years ahead of her. I do love my Mom. [inhales]

I'm not a bad person. I'm not a bad person. I just ... "

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posted by Steve @ 4:28 AM   0 comments
Monday, November 14, 2005
Anecdote no. 10: Lyric snippet

-

Lord don't take me while I sleep
cos I'm an athiest
until breakfast
and I've got a job to keep

I'm not old but I'm getting older

Currently listening :
In Your Honor
By Foo Fighters
Release date: 12:00 AM

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posted by Steve @ 1:04 AM   0 comments
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Anecdote no. 9: Is it really any good?
This has been a tough week, but this is not the place to complain about money.

The fact that I haven't posted in a while has a lot to do with stress. It's not that there wasn't anything interesting going on in my head, I just didn't want to work up the effort to type it up. Which is ironic, really, because the point of this blog is to get my ideas out. I digress.

I have been going through my demos for my new album. I haven't had a response to my music on the site I made for it. See the blog before the last. I've been listening to the seventy-odd song snippets and realized three things:

1. I like them. I genuinely enjoy listening to this music I've made.
2. I don't know if I like it because I made it or because it's good.
3. I also don't know if listening to it all the time makes it sound better - the abnormalities and mistakes just become part of what it is. Other times I get tired of them and I wonder if it's a sign the song is no good.

I need feedback, damn it.

Bonus points: Vu'un Tacjun, a song that won't make this album (doesn't fit the vibe at all) but probably the next.

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posted by Steve @ 2:42 AM   0 comments
Monday, October 03, 2005
Anecdote no. 8: Ain't Too Proud to Beg
I've updated my music site to include the public demo-sorting process for my fourth album. I'm inviting everyone I know - any anyone for that matter - to weigh in on what they think of the 40 or so song ideas and demos I have for the next album. Depending on how much feedback I get, I will probably post a song demo or two per week.

My rationale is that I would rather have bad advice than no advice, because I can ignore it and be in the same place I was when I started. I've got nothing to lose except pride - and anyone ought to be able to lose that.

My greatest fear is that I'll get no response. To any artist, acclaim and disdain are both infinitely preferable to indifference.

Here goes nothing: http://music.impulsenine.com

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posted by Steve @ 3:56 AM   0 comments
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Anecdote No. 7: Cat Lady
The following is a dialogue between a middle-aged cat lady (Inga) who lives in a small apartment in New York, and her downstairs neighbor who is a stuffy, cigar-smoking Englishman (Tuck) who takes pride in his garden in the emergency stairs out back.

Tuck: *knocks on the door*
Inga: Yes?
Tuck: Madam, your cats have been leaving their, uh, droppings in my flower bed again.
Inga: I assure you it isn't my cats.
Tuck: But haven't you noticed that the whole contingent will come downstairs rather than use the litter in your apartment?
Inga: There is no litter in my apartment.
Tuck: You mean to say you let your cats just leave their ... their droppings all over the outside world?!
Inga: Yes, it perfectly reflects my opinion of the outside world. *slams door*

Currently listening :
X-Mas at the Point Depot
By U2

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posted by Steve @ 8:59 PM   0 comments
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Anecdote no. 5: Lyrics for Black Action Soul

I'm working on two albums at the moment - seems to be the way I work best musically. The first to be done will be Ignition, which is Exhaust's sister album (link). The other is Black Action Soul, a harder rocking and darker album. It also has a lot of lyrics that are based on other peoples' lyrics. The thing is that they're all lyrics that I misheard as something else that I think is better. For example, I misheard "Black as your soul" (from Head Like A Hole) as "Black Action Soul" ... which is so much cooler.

Incidentally, I already know the next album concept after Black Action Soul .. I'd like to do an entire album of songs that work on their own but also could be played over and harmonize with other peoples' songs. Wouldn't that be wild? And don't steal my idea.

You can't do that in heaven / You can't get your head in
You should know that well / You can't do that here.

Ever wonder why they kill the weak ones / Baby

Currently listening :
London Calling
By The Clash

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posted by Steve @ 7:46 PM   0 comments
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Anecdote no.4 - Beaten with Odds
I once imagined that there are an infinite set of parallel universes across an axis that defines the determinacy of odds. At the middle, on the axis, would be a place where flipping a penny 10,000 times always came up tails 4,995 times (the heads side is slightly heavier), whereas way out away from the axis, it would be as likely to come up tails only 4 times as 5,000.

Writing a story set in that world would be, I think, lots of fun. Imagine it:
There would be people that have been struck by lightning so many times that their graves get hit like Old Faithful. The primary mode of transportation would be on foot - and any other vehicles would be much more safety conscious than where I'm writing from.

Gambling would be the national pastime. Irony wouldn't be a sense of humor - it would be totally normal. Think about it - the odds of finding exactly what you need or what you really don't need are usually bad here but in this world, you raise your hand for a taxi and it's (ironically) even odds that a taxi will be pulling up just as you raise your finger - or that the entire city's taxi population is on the other side of town, you poor schmuck.

Currently listening :
Hot Fuss
By The Killers

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posted by Steve @ 2:31 PM   0 comments
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Anecdote no. 3: Children Learning
On a hot summer day, a working mother holds her small girl's hand in the park. She's distracted momentarily by a phone call, and the girl looks over to the very old man sitting on a bench with his dog.

The man and dog look very much alike - old and wrinkled, the skin droops on his face like cooled lava. His dog looks much the same.

On seeing the old man, the little girl's eyes grow wide and she wanders away from her distracted mother towards him.

"'Scuse me," she says. He lowers his eyes to meet her and smiles, in the way an old man's wane half-smile can be perfectly genuine.

"Hello." Her eyes grew even wider at the response. She is looking intently at the crevices in his face.

"Mister, are you melting?"

Currently listening :
Peace Love Death Metal
By Eagles of Death Metal

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posted by Steve @ 11:37 PM   0 comments
Sunday, August 07, 2005
Anecdotes no. 1 and 2

These are small bits of a few stories I've had in my head for a little while.

~~

The old priest wiped off his face and turned to his friend. "Jacob, I feel like I'm going to Heaven through Hell."

~~

"Don't give me that crap, you goon!" It probably wasn't the best thing to say at the time, but Peter had had enough. The Agent adjusted his tie. "You don't scare me with your conspiratorial crap - we both know I'd been on that lead for years and know what's going on. I wasn't born yesterday." The Agent looked bored and looked over Peter's shoulder.

Peter woke up with a headache, still wearing his jumpsuit and sat up in his own bed. He looked around and saw nothing unusual in his room except that his wallet and keys were on his dresser instead of in the usual spot. He got up groggily to examine them and found that the only thing left in the wallet was the picture that had started the whole mess - with the Agent's face scratched out roughly.

"Damn." He got a few twenties from his stash in the closet and got into the car. He could just picture what would happen if he got pulled over - "I'm sorry, Sir, I don't have my ID because I was involved in a government coverup and they took my ID and seventeen bucks." He got his watch - it said 26 SEP, which meant he'd been gone three days.

He headed straight for the DMV.

"I need a new driver's license, ma'am." The bored-looking clerk accepted his credit card, Passport, and Social Security card. "There's a problem here, sir."
"What?"
"It says your birthday is on the 25th of September." Peter blinked. "I was born August 15th, ma'am."
"And that's what all your documents say, too but -- wait." She blinked at her computer. "It says you were born the 25th ... of this year."

There was a beat. And he muttered, "Fucking agents."

Currently listening :
Siamese Dream
By Smashing Pumpkins
Release date: By 27 July, 1993

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posted by Steve @ 11:59 PM   0 comments
 
About Me


Name: Steve
Home: Tucson, Arizona, United States
About Me: I like to think about things, and I occasionally like to write what I think.
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